


Mundane

by CynicalGhostie (CynicalGamer)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Almost no one played volleyball in highschool, Alternate Universe - College/University, Arguably a coming of age story, Characters updated with chapters, Ghost Hunting AU, Ghosts, I write Tsukki like he has a boner for vocab I'm so sorry, M/M, Mild Angst, Multi, Tsukki and Yamaguchi are still childhood friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-15 08:42:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12317595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CynicalGamer/pseuds/CynicalGhostie
Summary: Tsukishima Kei hated his mundane life, hated too much routine, and hated some of the people he was forced to interact with.However, when it came to Yamaguchi, none of those things mattered all that much. So when his childhood friend gave him an escape from the mundane, he wasn't going to complain.The fact that it involved ghosts and other such bullshit? Well, maybe he should have thought it through some more.[Amateur Ghost Hunting AU]





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote two chapters of this on a whim before starting some House Sitting, so while I've not had a chance to update my other fic, figured this would at least be something for people to read ;v;?
> 
> (Also this is one of the first non-reader-inserts I've written in like 2 years.  
> Does that mean A. I'm a lonely self indulgent person or B. I get too scared to write internal monologues of other characters for fear that I completely suck at it?  
> Both? Both.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I have very little idea where this story is going to go

Mundane.  
It was probably Tsukishima’s third favorite word, right after Schadenfreude; The german word for deriving pleasure from another’s pain, and Pathetic; Which he found interesting simply because everyone’s reaction to it was slightly different and that fascinated him to some degree. That left Mundane as his third favorite, if only for the fact that it was one of those words that sounded like its definition. Repeating it over and over in his mind felt dull and unappealing, and yet that itself was an act of intrigue. Just another contradiction in life, the kind that he felt himself drawn to time and time again.

The kind of contradiction he found in his own actions, his own desires, and in the people who surrounded him. Hypocrites, in simple terms. Tsukishima himself always scolded those who acted uncool, but on the inside he was hardly anything different. An exterior crafted over years of practice was just that; A shell of who he truly was. Everyone wore masks, at least at one point or another. They built them up, out of whatever scrapped apart personalities they had seen and admired, and forced out something that screamed of a person they are not. No one was free of that.

“Tsukki!”

Except maybe for Yamaguchi Tadashi.

“Tsukki, we’re going to be late!” Yamaguchi’s voice called again as he gently knocked on the wood door of Tsukishima’s 1-person dorm. “You promised, you know!”

A sigh escaped the blonde as he removed the headphones that covered his ears. Nothing had been playing for a solid thirty minutes, but the appearance of blocking out sound had been enough for him. Besides, he was simply too caught up thinking to actually notice the playlist had ended. Maybe that was for the best. The less time he spent listening to the same twenty or so songs, the slower he’d get sick of them.

Wordlessly, he rose from his computer chair and glanced towards the door. It wasn’t unlocked, otherwise he would have yelled for Yamaguchi to let himself in. No, instead he had left it locked, despite knowing they had plans. Despite their usual routine for that sort of thing. A minor slip up, perhaps subconscious, just to change the pace of it all. With long strides, Tsukishima moved towards the front door, thumb and index finger gripping at the heavy lock and turning it loose. No moment wasted, he twisted the knob and pulled the door back open, just in time to catch Yamaguchi about to knock again. He stared up with wide eyes, mouth slightly open as he registered the moment in time.

“Oh! There you are.” Was all he muttered, letting his raised fist fall back to his side. “You didn’t respond, I thought you were sleeping or something.” A light chuckle escaped him and for a moment his body language screamed relief.

That was the thing about Yamaguchi; You could always tell exactly how he felt. One of those rare occurrences of people who actually wore their heart on their sleeve. Genuine, in a word. Every part of his speech and mannerisms were real, wholly  **him** .

“Had my headphones on.” Tsukishima stepped out of the way to let his friend inside. There was no hesitation as Yamaguchi strode in and sat down on the futon facing the window. The motions were familiar, practiced over the past six months or so. However long they had been in their first year of college, that was. “Sorry I didn’t keep the door unlocked today.”

“No worries. Did you forget?”

“I guess.” Tsukishima gave a passive shrug before returning to his computer chair, his desk being perpendicular to the seating area of choice for Yamaguchi. The living space given to those who checked ‘no thank you’ to a roommate was actually quite generous. While a first-year’s dorm had no amenities to speak of, there had been room enough for not only a bed and the aforementioned computer desk, but also for a futon and a few shelves.

“Not about the door.” Yamaguchi narrowed his eyes, mouth twisting up in vague annoyance. “I can tell you forgot about that, obviously. I meant about where we’re going.”

“I’m not  _ that _ much of a scatterbrain.” Tsukishima shot back, his own face hardening at his friend’s accusation.

“So you admit you’re at least kind of one, right?” The grin that Yamaguchi gave him was ridiculous. How could someone be that happy about something so minor and trivial? Sometimes Tsukishima was baffled by the freckled boy’s inexact reactions.

“Shut up.”

“Sorry, Tsukki.” He still chuckled, so the apology was more a reflex than anything else. “I just figured anything to do with Hinata might be something you remove from memory right away.” He wasn’t too far off.

Hinata Shouyo was Yamaguchi’s unfortunate choice in roommate. It was a random selection process, of course. However the fact that Yamaguchi chose not to even attempt to switch with someone was in and of itself, a choice in the matter. Instead, he opted to stay with Hinata, going so far as to suggest that it’d be good for him. How that kid could be good for him was beyond Tsukishima.

“Let me just grab some tylenol and we can go.” Tsukishima stated as he rose from his seat once more. Yamaguchi rolled his eyes.

“He’s not _ that _ bad. I wish you’d give him more of a chance. Once you get past all that… loud energy stuff, he’s a nice guy!”

“Yamaguchi. Stop. Just stop right there.” He rose up a hand to further his retort. “Hinata Shouyo is an immature, unintelligible, and incessant pest. His niceness has nothing to do with my opinion of him.”

“G-Got it.” The stutter meant he had more to say, but decided against it. Yet another habit Tsukishima had made note of over the years.

He and Yamaguchi were childhood friends, in the same class from elementary up through high school. Now in different majors, they only shared a math class, but the free schedule of college life led them to spending much of their out-of-class time together. Close was an insufficient word to describe them. Tsukishima had memorized so much about his friend and he imagined it was the same for the other.

“Who else is going to be there? I need to know how much to bring.” He was mostly joking, as he simply took two tablets and stuck them in a small baggy to be shoved into his pocket.

“Kageyama, I think, and Kenma.”

“The second year?”

“Yeah, the one with the hair that kind of looks like pudding.” Yamaguchi made vague motions with his hands, as if to describe the length of the hair. “I’m not actually…  _ sure _ what we’re doing. But Hinata really,  _ really _ wanted to be sure we could make it.”

“He says that every time.” Tsukishima shot back, cleaning his glasses on his shirt.

“Because you end up skipping so much.” Yamaguchi retorted with another pout.

Tsukishima let out an irritated sigh. “I’m going this time, aren’t I?”

“I guess.” With a shrug, Yamaguchi got off of the futon and headed towards the door. “If you’ve got your anti-Hinata medicine then, can we get going? We’re already going to be late.”

 

* * *

It was already halfway through the school year, so the autumn chill was everywhere outside, especially after dark. Tsukishima squinted against the night’s darkness, all of the pathway lights dimmed from years of forgotten maintenance and neglect. Yamaguchi didn’t seem to mind, however, keeping up a steady pace alongside the blonde.

“I wonder what we’re doing?” He mused aloud, face brightening with an excited smile.

“Who knows. It’s probably something moronic in the end.”

“Tsukki, can you at least  _ pretend _ to be excited?” Just like that, the pout returned.

“Woo. Cannot wait. Really, truly excited right now.” Tsukishima deadpanned, expression remaining uninterested. “That good?”

“Not at all, but I know you won’t do anything more.” Yamaguchi answered with a roll of his eyes.

“You know me so well.”

“It’s a curse.” Yamaguchi smiled once more, leading the pair around a corner and towards what seemed to be a residential street. The air seemed to thicken, however, as if the entire area was more intense.

“Where the hell is this?” Tsukishima questioned with a quirk of the brow. Yamaguchi simply shrugged beside him, head turning here and there to investigate. It seemed the buildings were mostly condemned or downright falling apart. “If Hinata jumps out swinging an axe, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Tsukki, are you implying Hinata might be a serial killer?”

“Maybe.” He responded with a smirk.

“Oh my gosh. There is  _ no _ way.”

“I’m just saying he fits the profiling of one.” There was a mocking tone to Tsukishima’s words. The kind he always put on to tease Yamaguchi. “Strange behavior. Erratic actions. Have you  _ seen _ the look in his eyes when he’s serious? That’s just not normal.”

“Please stop criminal profiling my friends.” Yamaguchi shot him a glare, only a slight one, but enough to get the point across. “They should all just be up ahead, according to the address.”

“He gave you the exact address and you didn’t think to street-view it?”

“I trusted him?” Yamaguchi offered up as reasoning, although not his best defense. The look Tsukishima gave him didn’t help his resolve any. “Alright, fine. Bad choice, I know, but it’ll be fine.”

“Say that when you have an axe halfway through your skull.”

“ _ Tsukki _ .”

Up ahead, a large home with a chain link fence began to come into view, a few shapes of people in front of it. Tsukishima could only assume that was the group, but he was more focused on the fact that  _ of course _ it was a spooky house on a hill. He knew exactly where this evening was going and he was regretting not just faking sick. Or flat out refusing to come along. Or turning around right that moment and leaving. Really, the number of options were astonishing.  
The fact that he chose none of them? Equally astonishing.

“Hey guys!” Yamaguchi was first to speak, waving to the other three.

“Hey.” Tsukishima hardly put energy into his greeting, stopping a good seven or so feet away from the rest. “Where’s Hinata?”

“Oi! I’m right here!” Said ball of energy angrily flailed his arms, jumping to get the blonde’s attention.

“Oh? Sorry. You’re so short I didn’t see you.” The smirk he wore only seemed to irritate Hinata further.

“You did that on purpose!”

“Who? Me?”

“You’re both too loud.” Kenma suddenly interjected, his face dimly lit up by his game system. “You’re going to scare them.”

“Scare… them?” Yamaguchi’s eyebrows furrowed at the statement, a nervous energy suddenly spreading throughout him.

“The spirits.” Kageyama shrugged, his stoic face barely visible in the night.

“SP-SPIRITS?” Yamaguchi yelped, taking far too many steps closer to Tsukishima’s side in fear.

“Yeah!!! This place is supposed to be like, super haunted!” Hinata’s earlier anger seemed to be thrown right out as he turned back to Yamaguchi in bright enthusiasm. Tsukishima was glad he brought the tylenol.

“Hinata, you  _ dumbass _ , what did Kenma just say?” Kageyama crossed his arms over his chest.

With a much quieter voice, Hinata gave out a meek “Sorry.” and dropped both his arms to his sides. Who knew threat of the supernatural would be enough to shut him up? Tsukishima would have to keep that in mind.

“Are we seriously here for  _ ghosts _ ?” Tsukishima asked, a certain venom to the final word of his sentence. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“What?! Ghosts are cool!” Hinata began to pout.

Tsukishima couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose. “Ghosts aren’t real you  _ moron _ .”

“They are too!” Hinata insisted. Tsukishima could feel the headache forming at the back of his skull. “Look, Yamaguchi believes in them!” With a wild gesture, Hinata pointed at the freckled boy who seemed about a second away from just clinging to his taller friend.

“Really?” Tsukishima asked, exhaustion evident in his tone. He glanced down to his side and noted the light shivering Yamaguchi was displaying. Oh. Oh wow, he really was scared. That made things more complicated.

As much as he enjoyed relentlessly making fun of Hinata, he didn’t want to hurt Yamaguchi’s feelings in the process. But stepping down meant going along with all that garbage. But reinserting his view on the whole thing meant an upset friend. Augh.  
What a headache everything was.

“Alright, alright. What the hell kind of nonsense are you forcing us to participate in?” Vague disinterest to the activity itself would have to do.

“We’re---” Hinata stopped himself, lowering the volume of his voice again. “We’re ghost hunting. Kageyama and Kenma had some recording stuff they got and we’re going to try and prove ghosts are real.”

“I just had some microphones, Kenma had everything else.” Kageyama admitted, looking at the upperclassman.

“Hm…” Kenma hummed in acknowledgement. “I borrowed the cameras from Chikara. Don’t break them. I don’t want him mad at me.”

“Chikara?” Yamaguchi asked, looking towards Hinata.

The shorter boy shrugged. “Ennoshita, I think. He’s a classmate of Kenma’s.”

“Film major.” Kenma offered up quietly.

And that was that. Hinata got to quick work explaining (if you could even call it that) all of the equipment and splitting it up between the two groups. Which, of course, were Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, and then the other three. Yamaguchi was still shaking viciously, so it seemed it was up to Tsukishima to hold and operate the very expensive camera, whereas the other could hold the flashlight and mic.

The plan seemed to be: go inside the house, sit in some rooms, and see what you notice.

“What exactly do you believe is in this house?” Tsukishima brought up, inspecting the buttons on the camera he had been given.

“Ghosts.” Kageyama supplied the first answer, but that was hardly satisfactory.

“What happened that warranted a haunting in the first place?”

“Uhhh, death? Probably? Ooo maybe it was a murder!” Hinata’s giddiness on that theory made Tsukishima shoot Yamaguchi a look. One that hopefully expressed that he found more evidence for Hinata Shouyo: Serial Killer.

“You mean to tell me you simpletons didn’t look into the house’s history or  _ anything _ ?”

“Nah, that sounded like too much work, we’re just here for the ghosts.” Hinata defended. There was a moment of silence, before Tsukishima let out the longest drawn out sigh of the evening.

“Of course it was.”

“We’re going in first! Shout if you need us!” Hinata gave them one more flashy grin before following the much more subdued duo of Kenma and Kageyama inside.

Apparently before Team TsukkiGucci (Tsukishima was going to kill Hinata for the name they were given) had arrived, Kenma already had gotten the chain link gate’s lock open. The number of resources and skills the upperclassman had admittedly concerned Tsukishima to some degree, but he figured Kenma only ever went along with what Hinata wanted. Actually, scratch that, there was no comfort with Hinata as the mastermind.

“You ready?” Tsukishima looked down to his friend once more, who somehow had only gotten closer in the last few minutes.

“Y-Yeah.” His reply came out shaky, like he had just finished running five blocks, or like the wind was punched out of his gut. Was he honestly that scared of something he couldn’t see? Something that clearly couldn’t exist?

But maybe that was why. Enigmas, possibilities, the unknown… these were concepts people often cowered at, as if the world before their eyes was somehow any better than a departed soul who could barely interact with them. People confused Tsukishima, but there was something to that.

Another moment of hesitation, but eventually Yamaguchi managed to move his legs and the two passed through the chain link fence to stand in front of the door. The wood had all but rotted and briefly Tsukishima wondered what health concerns they’d undoubtedly run into by entering the establishment. Not the best idea there, Hinata. Regardless, they were being  _ that _ stupid thus far, no? Why not go the whole ten yards, live the life of a moron.  
Tsukishima, having one free hand, reached toward the knob and forced the door open. Forced, yes, because the wood had warped so much it got stuck on the door frame itself. Once that was accomplished, the pair made their way inside only to be greeted by a burst of dust and what seemed to be some small rodent dashing across the floor. Very stereotypical old-house stuff.

“This place is disgusting.” Tsukishima noted, as if not obvious before. “If I were a ghost, I’d hate to live here.”

“I don’t think they have a choice.” Yamaguchi weakly stated.

“They have a choice in hating it or not.”

With that, they began to take in the sights; At least what limited sights they had. There was a staircase to the right and a few feet forward, but the railings were crumbling apart and Tsukishima wasn’t exactly up for falling to his death. The house went further forward, though all of it was intensely shadowed, and there was an opening to the right and left that led to other rooms. Knowing Hinata, he would have dashed forward into the dark unknown, so Tsukishima began to head towards the right into what appeared to be a kitchen.

Dust and debris covered nearly every inch of the place, it was a wonder how long the place had been left there to erode away into nothingness. Marble countertops showed signs of cracking and there were spots in the walls where things clearly _ lived _ . Tsukishima half-heartedly aimed the camera at everything and began to film without much of a word. He’d at least have something to show for their idiotic journey, even if it was simply a green-tinged scene of an abandoned kitchen.

“Did you hear that?!” Yamaguchi was suddenly whimpering, arms wrapped tightly around himself.

“It was that rodent again.” Was all Tsukishima replied, moving forward. “Every sound can be explained, especially with that simpleton in the same building somewhere, stop freaking out so much.”

“R-Right. Okay. Did we, uh… did we want to keep going?” With a point of his finger, Yamaguchi gestured toward another hallway that seemed to lead to what could have been a bedroom. Tsukishima shrugged, continuing on. Luckily, with the night vision on the camera, he wasn’t so worried about stumbling into anything without a flashlight aimed properly. Yamaguchi was so anxious, the light bounced around often, so it was actually preferred that he stared through the camera’s preview.

“I think this was a servant’s room.” Tsukishima pointed out, doing a small 360 turn in the center of it. “It’s small and under furnished. Plus it’s on the first floor. We’d probably find bigger bedrooms upstairs.”

“Whoa… you’re so smart, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi beamed at him, previous anxiety growing less and less severe. “What… what kind of servant?”

“A maid or nanny, probably.” For a split second, Tsukishima froze, blinking twice. He thought he saw something move, for just a moment, but he couldn’t have been sure. Most likely a trick of the eye. “How exactly are we supposed to ‘ghost hunt’ again?”

“Oh! Um…” Yamaguchi stood and thought for a moment, resting the base of the flashlight against his chin. “I think we’re supposed to sit in a room and like… try and speak to any spirits? A-And record it, and stuff.”

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “So you’ve watched this kind of garbage before?”

Yamaguchi simply glared before taking a seat on the ground, cross legged. Not giving a damn at that point, Tsukishima joined him, although he sat with his knees bent in front.

“Let me just… there we go! I think?” The mic now in hand, Yamaguchi set it down in between them and vaguely motioned for Tsukishima to set the camera down. The blonde followed the orders, placing the lens toward them.”Okay! Now we can begin! Tsukki, did you want to start?”

“Want is such a strong word.”

“ _ Tsukki _ , please?”

“Fine, fine.” Tsukishima inhaled and then exhaled a moment later, blandly staring up at the ceiling. The environment felt so stuffy, what with the years of dust and what not. “Hello, uh…  _ spirits _ ? If you’re there… throw a chair or something.”

“They’re not going to throw a chair, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi narrowed his eyes yet again.

“That sounds like a challenge to the ghosts.” He smirked, but it was hidden under the cover of the dark.

They sat like that for awhile, uttering phrases back and forth, but nothing (outside of another scurrying rodent) particularly happened. Yamaguchi insisted that they could hear something on the recording after they got back to the dorms, but Tsukishima remained unconvinced. If these spirits were such powerful beings of energy who could move objects and such, surely they could manage to speak above an immeasurable whisper.

“If this isn’t working, maybe we should both spend alone time in the room.” Tsukishima offered up as he stood and dusted his pants free of, well, dust.

“A-Alone? Like… sitting alone in this room kind of alone?” The freckled boy didn’t seem too pleased with the notion.

“Yes. Alone. Having no one else present. To be by yourself. An Absence--”

“I get it! You don’t have to go all dictionary on me I’m not  _ that _ bad at vocab.” With a huff, Yamaguchi’s shoulders slumped and his gaze fell to the floorboards.

“So it’s settled. I’m going to step outside and you talk to the ghost by yourself.” There was no further arguing, only a small whimper of protest as the door was closed and Yamaguchi was left to sit in the dark with the equipment. “I’m right outside.”

Yamaguchi put a lot of trust in Tsukishima. Perhaps too much, but it was the kind of unrelenting trust one would have after twelve or so years of knowing someone. That meant reassuring words and phrases were shortened, because on some instinctual level he  _ knew _ Tsukishima would never abandon him. He would never leave him truly alone when he had seen how scared he was of the whole ordeal.

Tsukishima, in contrast, put all of his trust in what he could see. Even with his less than perfect vision, the world in front of his eyes was the truth. Every trick had an angle of reality, every person had a showing tell. He built up not  _ instincts _ , but powers of observation, and he built them up well. Maybe that was why the whole ghost thing left him unfazed; Why the unknown didn’t scare him to the degree it did others. Until it showed itself, there was nothing to judge, no point in theorizing or guessing. So he left it well enough alone.

Alone. Like Yamaguchi was for the past two minutes, until---

“Ts-Tsukki!” A frantic yelp caused every hair on Tsukishima’s neck to stand up. He whipped around to the door, only to find that Yamaguchi was rattling the knob at an alarming rate. “Tsukki it’s  _ locked _ !!!”

“What? Calm down, it shouldn’t be, just take it slow.”

“No, it’s  _ locked _ , I’m locked in here with that  _ thing _ !” His panic was evident in every word, every syllable. “Get me out of here!” His throat caught… it sounded like tears.

“What thing? Yamaguchi, calm down and let me try the doorknob.” After a second, the rattling stopped, and Tsukishima reached for the handle himself only to find… it wouldn’t open. How?  _ How in the hell? _ “Yamaguchi, wait just a second. I’ll find something to break the lock, you just work on your breathing.”

Not waiting for a response, knowing full well every second counted when Yamaguchi was having a panic attack, Tsukishima hurried back towards the kitchen and searched for anything with some weight to it.

“What’s going on?! We heard Yamaguchi screaming!” Hinata slid into the room (quite literally) and rushed over to the counter space where Tsukishima was searching.

“ _ Not right now, Hinata. _ ” The blonde growled. Not bothering to explain or fake pleasantness at all, Tsukishima finally found what he was looking for and rushed back towards the small room. Hinata followed close behind and he could hear the murmurs of Kageyama and Kenma not too far away.

“ _ Tsukki! _ ” Yamaguchi was sobbing on the other side of the door when he finally returned and it hit like a punch to the gut for Tsukishima. Not so carefully, he rose up the heavy object in his hand and slammed it down on the knob, dislodging it completely in one fell blow. Without a moment of hesitation, Tsukishima gripped the newly formed hole and swung the door open, just to have Yamaguchi tackle straight into him.

“Are you alright?” Just like that, the pent up stress of the situation melted away as Tsukishima could  _ see _ Yamaguchi, see that he was okay, even if only in a physical sense. However, he seemed to refuse to speak, opting instead to cling to the fabric of Tsukishima’s shirt.

“Wh-What happened?” Hinata asked again, clutching the flashlight in his hand tightly.

“We’re leaving. Hinata you’re coming with me. Kenma, Kageyama?” Tsukishima turned his head to look at the other two more quiet observers. “Grab the equipment and take it with you.” No one spoke up, silently agreeing with the blonde as he began to lead Yamaguchi away and towards the front door.

“Tsukishima, wait up!” Hinata muttered an apology to his other two friends and dashed off to attempt to keep up with Tsukishima’s much longer legs. “You haven’t told me what happened! Did you see something, Yamaguchi!? Why’d you break the door handle?!”

“Shut up.” Was the only response he received as Tsukishima removed his jacket to put around Yamaguchi’s trembling shoulders.

“Fine.” Hinata huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

The rest of the walk back to the dorm rooms was in silence, Tsukishima gently guiding Yamaguchi from behind. Hinata trailed after, genuinely shutting up for once in his life. As they entered the halls, stopping in front of Yamaguchi and Hinata’s room, Tsukishima finally spoke again.

“You’re going to keep an eye on him, got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“And Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima looked to his friend, face softening if only a bit. “Get some sleep.”

And that was all. He left the two of them, heading towards his own room down the hall on the right. To Hinata, that might have seemed cold or indifferent, but for Yamaguchi, that was how Tsukishima showed he cared, even if it was brief.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Andddd here's that second chapter I had written  
> There probably won't be an update for a lil while (A week? At most) BUT I hope you're enjoying it thus far, feel free to drop a comment or kudos, both make me smile a lot ;v; <3

Tsukishima didn’t think to ask what Yamaguchi had experienced. He hadn’t considered it of particular importance when his closest friend was a crying mess. No, instead he simply sent a goodnight text and found himself falling asleep atop his bed sheets without much warning.

The next morning, he awoke to a knocking sound at his door.  _ Soft _ . That certainly limited the number of potential visitors.  
Tsukishima groaned outwardly as he blinked away the grogginess and slapped his hand against the bed to find his phone. Once he made contact with the technology, he brought it to his face (nearly dropping it in the process) and read the time. It was nine in the morning. Sunday.

Dragging his feet all the while, the blonde made it to his door and opened it hesitantly, only about halfway.

“Good morning, Tsukishima.” Akaashi greeted, face neutral.

“... Akaashi?”

Akaashi Keiji was not who Tsukishima expected. Not after the events of the previous evening, at least. He was a friend of Kenma’s; Actually they were roommates, but other than one party at the start of the year, Tsukishima hadn’t interacted with him all that much. He was a psychology major and that alone worried him to some degree.

“I was sent by Kenma. He told me you’re to meet with him and the others in the library. I told him I didn’t want to be an errand boy, but you know how he is.” Akaashi explained quickly. He was always to-the-point and polite, although there was no denying he enjoyed slipping out some sass or sarcasm on occasion. You’d almost miss it due to his static tone and demeanor, but Tsukishima picked up on it frequently.  
Or however frequently it could have been, given their lack of contact.

“... On a Sunday?” Tsukishima managed to ask, his throat rough with inactivity. “Dumbasses…” He added for good measure.

“Yes, well… I’ve done my job, so if you’ll excuse me.” Akaashi bowed his head, taking a single step back and then turning to make the walk down the hall and out of the first-year dorms.

Tsukishima stood for another moment, but soon found himself closing the door and getting ready for another day of headaches. Usually on a Sunday he’d sleep in, wake up sometime after eleven and take to the book (AKA Homework).  
Seemed his schedule had to change. Not that he minded that aspect, as he found routine to be, well, _Mundane_. The fact that the break in said routine had to involve Hinata and his friends? That pissed him off. So why was he going in the first place?

To answer that, one would have to dive into the mindset of Tsukishima Kei, and that was not an activity lightly done. He was a contradiction. He was always a shell of a person he built up over the years. He was---

“Tsukishima! Come watch the ghost footage!!!”

110% done with this bullshit.

Honestly his legs had taken him on auto pilot to the library, which was mostly abandoned for some odd reason. Hinata sat in front of a computer, waving frantically for his attention. Kenma was some two feet away, spinning gently in a rolling chair and Yamaguchi was in the spot beside the aforementioned headache of a human being.

“Shut up, you’re already pissing me off.” Tsukishima opened with his usual coldness, face already contorted up into something bitter and annoyed. “Where’s headache number two?

“Kageyama had a test to make up.” Yamaguchi supplied the answer, knowing full well what his friend meant.

Tsukishima hummed his acknowledgement, taking the other open seat to the left of Hinata reluctantly. He had wanted to ask how Yamaguchi was doing, but decided it was best not to do so in front of the other two. Most of Tsukishima and Yamaguchi’s relations were kept behind closed doors, out of the way of the public eye. That was how they functioned, and he tried his best to upkeep that.

“Look, look!” Hinata, ignoring Tsukishima’s previous remark, simply smudged his finger against the computer screen, pointing to what very clearly was a spec of dust. “Do ya think that’s anything?”

“I think it looks like an idiot. Oh, my bad. That’s just your reflection in the monitor.”

“ _ Oi! _ ” Hinata barked, but Tsukishima could see Yamaguchi snickering not too far away. “Y-You look like an idiot!”

“Nice comeback.” He flatly replied. “Now do you have anything actually worth my time or am I just here to listen to you waste your breath for hours?”

“We picked up some audio.” Kenma, his chair half spun away from the computer, chimed in. His voice was quiet and controlled as always. No wonder he and Akaashi got along as well as they did. “But I got Chikara working to make it clear.”

“Someone say my name?” Sure enough, Ennoshita had walked over just in time. He smiled tiredly, flash drive in hand. “Sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“No, nothing worthwhile at least.” Tsukishima muttered, glaring down Hinata.

Ennoshita seemed to chuckle at that, handing the flashdrive to an overly excited Hinata. “You must be Tsukishima, huh? I’ve heard about you.”

“And you’re Ennoshita, who seems to have enough time on his hands to assist in hunting ghosts and other such fairytales?” Tsukishima would usually be polite, really, but being woken up early for that nonsense had him weirdly on edge.

“Watch it.” The film major’s eyes suddenly narrowed, legitimately causing Tsukishima to flinch. That was… unexpected.

“...  _ Sorry _ .”

“U-Um, Ennoshita, did you find anything?” Yamaguchi interjected, his own attempt to lighten the mood.

“Maybe. It’s hard to tell, but you guys can be the judge of that. I _ did _ hear a lot of screaming, though. Cut it out for the most part.”

Yamaguchi’s face flushed and he hid himself in his hands. “R-Right.” At least he seemed more embarrassed than mortified by the experience. For awhile there, Tsukishima was worried he might be mentally scarred or something to that effect.

“Got it up!” Hinata cheered, bringing everyone’s attention to the monitor once more.

“I synced up the footage and audio, so just put on the headphones and listen carefully.” Ennoshita instructed. After a moment or two, Hinata pressed play and closed his eyes, his face scrunching up in concentration. Then, those eyes shot open and his mouth formed an ‘o’ as he bounced in the chair. Clearly, he heard something that piqued his interest.  
Another moment went by before he nearly flung the headphones off and towards Yamaguchi.

“Listen, listen!” He hardly instructed. Though shyly at first, Yamaguchi took the headphones in his hands and brought them to his ears. When he reached the point in time where Hinata had freaked out, his eyes widened and his shoulders tense. That didn’t sit well with Tsukishima, but he didn’t doubt there was some sort of logical explanation behind it. “Did you hear it?!”

“I-I… I think so? It sounded like… scratching… and a whisper.” Yamaguchi’s voice came out hardly above a whisper. That seemed to get Kenma’s attention as he carefully took the headphones for himself. Again, there was a look of shock and the tension in the group only grew.

“Shouyo…” He returned to headphones to the table only to have them passed again to a less than pleased Tsukishima. He thought it was pointless. There was no reason to listen at all, but… curiosity tugged at his mind, and his thirst for knowledge overtook his need to seem indifferent. Scolding himself internally. He brought the padded headphones to his ears and stared blandly at the computer.  
Everyone seemed to react at a certain spike in the audio, so he waited carefully and then---

There was something. Definitely  _ something _ . But to say _ what _ was impossible.

Tsukishima shrugged, removing the device from his ears. That didn’t seem to be the reaction everyone was looking for.

“What?! You heard it, right? You had to have heard it!” Hinata was gripping the swivelling chair tightly, as if more frustrated than ever before. That only grated on the blonde’s nerves more, but he simply didn’t have the energy to retort. So instead, he gave another shrug and found himself looking to Yamaguchi. Of course he was freaked out. He apparently had the worst reaction out of all of them, so having Hinata listen first and give Yamaguchi something to listen for made him unreliable as a source.  
That was just logic.

Furthermore, Kenma could easily have been reacting just to make Hinata happy. There was nothing there to tell Tsukishima otherwise, he certainly didn’t trust bias to be cut out of the picture.

And Hinata. God damn  _ infuriating _ Hinata Shouyo. He had wanted ghosts to be real from day one. So of course he’d hear just what he wanted to. Idiot. Moron. Simpleton.  
To think he had gotten Yamaguchi all caught up in that twister of stupidity.

“There’s not enough to go off of.” He decided to land on that response, not lying to them completely.

“I hate to agree, but that’s what I thought, too.” Ennoshita meekly admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck. “If you guys get anything more, though, let me know.”

“Are you really okay helping us with this, Ennoshita?” Yamaguchi was frowning, eyebrows furrowed. “I mean, don’t you have other things… that’d you actually want to do?”

“He doesn’t have friends.” Kenma offered up, lifting his gaze from his phone for only a moment.

“Wh-! I have friends!” Ennoshita shot back. He let out an irritated huff before continuing. “They’re just at other schools. And all of my classmates are pretentious snots other than you, Kenma. Although now you’re on thin ice.”

“That’s what you get for majoring in  _ film _ .” Tsukishima decided to interject, resting his chin in his hand. There was a moment where he wondered if that was actually going to break Ennoshita, but then---

“I see you major in smartassery.” That comeback actually had Tsukishima smirking. He hadn’t expected the upperclassman to be as clever as he was. Especially given his tired and unassuming appearance, at least. “Whatever. I’m leaving. See you tomorrow, Kenma.” He shook his head from side to side, turning and disappearing out of the library.

Not too long after, the group dispersed to do various Sunday activities. You know, the kind that didn’t involve sitting around a computer arguing the legitimacy of the supernatural.  
Hinata left to find Kageyama and bring him the news while Kenma went back to his apartment.  
That left Yamaguchi and Tsukishima to themselves, finally giving a chance for the latter to bring up what he had been wondering.

“... Are you alright?” He started off simply, staring down the strawberry shortcake in front of him. They had gone out to the corner store just down the street and brought back to campus with them some treats. Most people wouldn’t have guessed it, but Tsukishima had a sweet tooth and found himself eating some kind of junk on a near weekly basis.

“Hm? What do you mean?” Yamaguchi tilted his head. Was he pretending to save himself the stress or had he genuinely not understood the question? Either way, Tsukishima found himself tense.

“After last night---”

“Oh! I haven’t returned your jacket, I’m sorry, Tsukki. We can grab it when we go back to the dorms.” Ah. He was dodging the question. That made things more complicated. It was always complicated with Yamaguchi, so it was a wonder that Tsukishima hadn’t seen it coming. Still, he had to push forward, had to check and be sure for his own selfish peace of mind.

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“S-Sorry?” He seemed to tilt his head again, this time to the other side.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, whatever. But just  _ tell _ me if you’re alright.” There was a long silence, Yamaguchi jittering uncomfortably. He was averse to conflict with Tsukishima, and for the most part in general, so every part of him wanted to flee. That never helped anything, though.

“Actually… I’ve been thinking…” His answer started out slow, his eyes never settling on one place. It was a nervous habit of his, yet another way his emotions were worn to be broadcasted to the world. But the world wasn't watching, it was just Tsukishima, and his eyes bore into him more than a thousand people could.

“Think faster.” Tsukishima grumbled.

“I just! I think…” He inhaled. “I think I want to go back.”

“ _ What? _ ” The disbelief in the blonde’s voice couldn’t be masked. “You have got to be joking.”

“I’m not! I know it’s crazy after, uh…”

“After you had a  _ panic attack?! _ Yeah. That seems crazy.” There was no way he’d let it happen. No way he’d force or even allow Yamaguchi back into that building. “You’re not going.”

It seemed to take him a bit to process, but Tsukishima Kei was honestly telling him ‘no’. He was voicing an opinion, and strongly at that. “Tsukki?”

“Let’s go get my jacket.” It was Tsukishima’s turn to avoid a question. He had lost his cool for a second, even just a second, and he felt… vulnerable. It was not a good feeling.  
He rose from their seating, haphazardly throwing away his trash and leading the way to Yamaguchi’s dorm without any room for argument. Seeing that, Yamaguchi couldn’t find it in his heart to speak up, at least not until Tsukishima calmed down. Who knew when that’d be.

 

* * *

Apparently, the time it took to calm down was the brief walk to Yamaguchi’s dorm (especially after it appeared Hinata was still out for the day), because Tsukishima didn’t immediately leave after receiving his jacket. Instead, he pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a gruff sigh.

“Fine.  _ Why? _ ” Context wasn’t needed, Yamaguchi knew what was being asked.

“I-I freaked out. They could have been just trying to tell me something, and, I-- well I don’t know, I just---”

“ _ They? _ So now you’re fully on board with Hinata’s delusions?!” It seemed angry Tsukishima was back and in record time.

“Would you please just listen!” Yamaguchi shouted back, trying hard to stand his ground. He wasn’t a pushover, even if other people often would take advantage of him. But there were plenty of times where he fought back, and anything with Tsukishima became part of those times. “I don’t  _ know _ if there are ghosts or anything, but I  _ believe _ it and I want to take the chance to experience it!”

“Ridiculous.” Was all Tsukishima had to say to that.

“Maybe!” Flailing both arms around, Yamaguchi kept up his yelling. “But  _ god damn it, _ not everyone can be **you** , Tsukki! Is it so wrong to want to believe in something beyond our perception?!”

For a short time, they both stood and glared down the other.  
Tsukishima hated this. Hated feeling out of control of his emotions. Hated that the break in his mundane routine had to be for something so… so…  
He was at a loss for words for once in his life. No amount of vocabulary could properly express the sheer amount of _whatever it was_ that he felt. He shook his head, gaze leaving Yamaguchi’s face.

“Fine. But I’m going with you.”

Without even looking back, he could hear it, could always  _ hear _ the genuine giddiness in Yamaguchi’s voice. “Tsukki! Thank you!”

“We are  **not** bringing Hinata, though. Don’t breath a word to him.”

“G-Got it! But… how are we supposed to borrow the equipment without him knowing?” Yamaguchi brought up a fair point, although…

“I think I have an idea for that.”

“I knew you would, Tsukki!”

 

* * *

“Tsukishima?” The tables had turned, now with Akaashi questioning the appearance of Tsukishima at his door. The blonde didn’t look wholly comfortable, not used to being in the second-year dorm building. “What can I help you with?”

“Is Kenma here?”

“He left with Kuroo an hour ago.” Ah yes, Kuroo. That was someone else Tsukishima knew of, but that wasn’t important at the moment. “Were you looking for him? Or perhaps are you seeking to  _ not _ have him know you’re here?” Damn Akaashi’s perceptive nature.

“... Yes. I need to borrow a camera.”

“Doesn’t sound like borrowing if he doesn’t know about it. Why the secrecy, Tsukishima?”

Tsukishima sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t obtain anything without giving up some information first. “Yamaguchi and I are going back to the house, but we’ve decided to leave a few headaches behind this time.”

“I see.” Akaashi seemed to ponder for a moment before stepping back and opening the door wider. “Please, come in while I find the camera.”

Kenma and Akaashi didn’t seem to be the messiest of people, although given the stereotypes, Tsukishima wouldn’t have been surprised if Kenma  _ was _ a slob. That was still a possibility, if one assumed Akaashi handled the upkeep of the dorm, but nevertheless, the interior of the room seemed comfortably tidy. There were less rooms overall in the second-year dorm building, as most moved into apartment buildings nearby, therefore the space given was nearly double of a first-year dorm.

A measly living space, a small kitchen, and two rooms. It was clear Kenma spent a lot of time in the living space, seeing as the TV was equipped with a large number of game consoles and accessories. Tsukishima eyed them all, noting a Wii U and PS4 at the forefront. He had never caught what Kenma’s major was, but if it didn’t have to do with game creation, he’d have no other guesses. Three drink coasters sat on the petite coffee table, along with three controllers.

“We often have guests.” Akaashi explained, suddenly reappearing from his search. Tsukishima whipped around, feeling like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t be. “Sorry, did I startle you?” While the question alone sounded concerned, the blonde couldn’t ignore the way it ended with a smirk.

“No.” He lied.

“The camera.” Akaashi moved past it, extending his arm out to pass along the video camera to Tsukishima. The latter accepted it, eyeing his upperclassman warily. “Is there something else?”

“... No.”

“You know, I’ve been told you have an excellent grasp on vocabulary. This conversation says otherwise.” Again, Akaashi seemed to find amusement somewhere, despite his lack of vocalizing it.

“Why are you helping me?” Tsukishima dared to ask, ignoring the sentiment that others were apparently talking about him.

Akaashi huffed in slight delight. “You came here asking for my help, so clearly you thought I’d give it. Why do  _ you _ think, Tsukishima?”

“Honestly I just thought you’d buy us time before Hinata found out one way or another.” The shrug Tsukishima gave was non-committal, almost implying he thought of the answer on the spot. Which he had. Akaashi didn’t need to know that, though.

“Not a bad assumption.” He began, turning and heading around to the other side of the room and into the kitchen space. It appeared he was in the middle of dishes. With delicate hands, he rolled up his sleeves and allowed his gaze to fall to the sink. “You can leave when you feel like it.”

“Thank you, Akaashi.”

 

* * *

“Tsukki, you’re amazing!” Yamaguchi cheered brightly, holding the camera in his hand.

“Keep it down.” The taller remarked, a light blush warming his cheeks. He wasn’t good with compliments, found them unsettling and insincere. While he didn’t particularly doubt Yamaguchi’s genuine nature, it was still a reflex to deflect and dismiss all praise sent his way.

“Sorry, Tsukki.” And Yamaguchi knew that.

“You don’t have class Tuesday, right?” Tsukishima pushed forward in the conversation, taking out his phone to scroll through his calendar.

“Right.”

“My last lecture on Monday ends around five. We can get dinner and go then. At least if we die that gives a necromancer a whole day to resurrect us before our test on Wednesday.” Tsukishima smirked, setting an alert in his phone.

“We have a test on Wednesday?!” Yamaguchi yelped, clearly glossing over the jab Tsukishima was trying for. The blonde rolled his eyes before standing up.

“Yes. Last one before Midterms.”

“I-I-I’ve got to study!”

“You’re great at math, I don’t know why you worry so much.” With a sigh, Tsukishima looked to his friend. “I was going to the library anyway, if you wanted to come.”

“Sure!” That seemed to brighten his disposition, Yamaguchi removing himself from his seat in excitement. “Are you studying, too?”

Tsukishima shrugged his shoulders. “Sort of.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where is this story going? Gay.  
> That's my only answer.

The treck to the library was rather uneventful, however Tsukishima’s face did twist up when he recalled how he had already been there once that day. It was becoming afternoon after all of the running around. Rather inefficient when he thought about it. Yamaguchi didn’t seem to care at all though, his face wearing a signature soft smile.

Truth be told, while Tsukishima could read and translate all of his friend’s mannerisms and quirks, he couldn’t  _ understand _ them. Yamaguchi was foreign ground; A type of person he could never have been. That made him confusing… puzzling… a conundrum. Was it selfish to want to examine and understand all of that?  
No… that wasn’t quite the right word. Afterall, there was no denying Tsukishima held no power over the other. He could have left at any point.

“You’re thinking too hard, Tsukki.” With concern in his eyes, Yamaguchi looked to the taller boy. “You’re going to get wrinkles right where you scowl.”

“Then I won’t have to scowl anymore when I have wrinkles there.”

“How convenient.” Yamaguchi’s tone was laced with sarcasm. Was Tsukishima’s dry wit rubbing off on him? How dangerous.

As the two pressed through the doorway of the library, it seemed the earlier emptiness was simply a fluke. People sat at most of the tables or shuffled throughout the aisles seeking out their desired reading material. Most of the computers were occupied as well, a cluster of students huddled around one clearly working on some group presentation.

“Wow. It wasn’t like this earlier.” Yamaguchi vocalized the note Tsukishima had already internally made.

“No one wants to be in the same building as a serial killer.”

Yamaguchi narrowed his eyes, following behind the blonde who had taken the lead. “I’m just going to pretend I don’t know what you mean.”

“I’ll just keep my eyes on the news, then.”

“Not worried I’ll be the victim in the headline?”

“No, no. Serial killers never kill the roommate. That’s murder 101.”

“Pffft.” Yamaguchi snickered, covering his mouth on instinct. “Is that a class offered here?” He removed the hand long enough to let spill the joke that obviously had him grinning up a storm.

“Ask Hinata.” Taking his bag off his shoulder, Tsukishima shrugged and took a seat at their usual table. It was far off in the corner of the room, honestly the most inconvenient spot ever imagined as it somehow managed to be far from both the reading materials and the computers. That, of course, was why it remained empty far after all the other spots were taken. On top of all of that, it was old and worn down, making for a pretty unsightly area.

Yamaguchi sat in the seat across from him. His math notebook was out in a flash, thumb flipping through the pages. Tsukishima had to have watched the action a million times (despite his insisting every time that Yamaguchi was great at math) committing to memory the way he allowed his eyes to focus and his mouth to tighten in concentration. After a moment, the freckled boy stopped his motions, fully opening the notebook to his neat hand-written notes.

“Tsukki, what were you going to study?” His voice caught Tsukishima off guard, and he had to fight hard to maintain his air of indifference.

“Stuff.” He simply responded, carefully removing his laptop from his bag. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Fine, fine. Be all secretive.” Yamaguchi waved him off, eyes already plastered to the lined paper of his notebook.

Tsukishima could have easily admitted he wanted to look into that house’s history, but where was the fun in that? Furthermore, he hadn’t wanted to distract Yamaguchi from his own studying. One mention of ghost hunting and he didn’t doubt the whole study session would barrel down towards that path. No thank you. So, to save a headache and perhaps Yamaguchi’s grade, Tsukishima decided to keep it to himself as he typed away into the google bar.

The results were few and far between.

Even after expanding his queries to encompass the entire seemingly abandoned residential street, he could only make out part of the story. There seemed to have been a quarantine, but no details of why or what became of those in the area. Tsukishima shook his head absentmindedly as he repeatedly came to dead ends in his search. Maybe he would have to find alternative methods.

“I’ll be right back.” He muttered to Yamaguchi before standing and heading towards the front counter. It would have been simple to search through the history section himself, but depending on who was running the desk he could cut out the work and not have to bother with someone annoying.  
To his mild displeasure, he knew the student.

“Hey, Tsukishima.” To his not  _ as _ intense displeasure, at least it was Yaku.

“We’ve met only twice. I don’t know how to feel about you memorizing my name.” Tsukishima stopped as he approached the counter, arms resting on the top.

Yaku’s smile dropped and he, too, leaned forward. “I’m not going to apologize for remembering a name.”

“Hm.” He hummed in acknowledgement. It hadn’t meant much, but internally Tsukishima was a bit amazed that he had made any lasting impression on anyone. Let alone someone he had first met under very different circumstances.

“Anyway, what can I do for you?” He straightened up, suddenly an air of professionalism to him.

“Do you know if there are any history books on the local area?” That question seemed to perplex the much shorter boy. “What?” Tsukishima raised a brow back.

“Oh. Sorry. That’s just not your usual field of study.” Yaku smiled in apology, turning to the computer on his right.

“So you memorized my major, too?”

Yaku shrugged. “I have a good memory. You were talkative at the party.”

“Augh.” Tsukishima pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. Of course. It had been six months, but people seemed to never shut up about that start of the year party. “Don’t talk to me about that.”

“I don’t have much else to go off of with you.” Yaku shot back, side eyeing him. With a harsh huff, he began to type away on the keyboard. “Alright. Looks like we had a couple, butttt…”

“But?” Tsukishima prompted bitterly.

“Kozume seemed to have checked them out. Earlier today, actually.”

There was a pause. An almost impressively long pause.

“You’re saying that like I know who that is.” Which he hadn’t. There was no one he recalled named Kozume.

“Kenma? You know, the second-year you end up around all the time?”

“Oh.” Tsukishima blinked twice, eyes widening just slightly. “Is… Kozume his given name?”

“What? No.” Yaku balked at that, blinking a few times of his own. “Wait, you’ve been friends with him---”

“Acquaintances.” Tsukishima corrected.

“--- and you never knew his full name?” He finished with a look of disbelief.

“He only introduced himself as Kenma.” The blonde responded with a weak shrug. He kept his eyes away from the library assistant, a bit embarrassed, but not about to let it show.

“Wow. I mean, I guess I’m not that surprised, but still, I’ll have to tell Kuroo.” Yaku added on, a light chuckle escaping him.

“Why would  _ he _ need to know about that?” Tsukishima was glaring now, his scowl wrinkles working overtime.

“Kuroo and Kozume are childhood friends---”

“Nevermind. This is already giving me a migraine.” He held up a hand, shaking his head lightly. It was simply too much information to learn at once.

“O… kay?” Yaku didn’t seem to understand, but he let it slide nonetheless. “Bottom line is Kozume has the books you’re looking for.”

With a frustrated sigh, Tsukishima leaned back and nodded. “Alright. Thanks. Bye.” He kept it short, turning to leave before Yaku could even sputter out his own goodbye.

As Tsukishima returned to the table, he began powering down and packing up his laptop.

“Tsukki?”

“Text Kenma for me. This idiotic day of running around is far from over.”

 

* * *

Mudane was far from what Tsukishima could call that day, but a few other choice words came to mind.  
Exasperating. Exhausting. Endless.  
If he had Kenma’s number, he would have sent a text himself. However, Tsukishima had to enlist Yamaguchi’s assistance, and instead of making a huge mess of trying to explain context and reasoning, it was just easier to have his friend check if Kenma was back at his dorm yet. Apparently he was, which meant for the second time that day, Tsukishima had to find his way to the second-year dorm building. And, for the _ goddamn second time that day _ , he had to knock on their door and ask to borrow something.

Fuck. What was his excuse even going to be? The whole point of the first trip was to  _ not _ let Kenma know what was up. Had Akaashi spilled the beans? Was that why this charade had to keep going on? Blegh. If he kept up that line of thought his head would only receive the brunt of the force, something he would kindly do without.

“Tsukishima.” Akaashi, once again, greeted him at the door, stating his name rather than asking. “Welcome. What can I help you with?” The omittance of the word ‘back’ was appreciated. That meant he most likely hadn’t snitched.

“Is… Kenma here?”

Akaashi glanced over his shoulder, probably towards the living space. “Why, yes. He is. Come on in.” With the same exact motions as the first time, he opened the door further and allowed Tsukishima to enter the room. The main difference was: he hadn’t excused himself that time, choosing instead to linger and watch the events from a safe distance.  
 _Damn psychology major._

“Oh. Hey, Tsukishima.” Without even looking away from the game he was playing, Kenma greeted the new guest.

“Why did you check out those history books?”

“Hm?”

“The books you checked out. Literally today. Why?”

“Oh.” Kenma paused his game, allowing himself to blink before looking towards the corner of the room where his bag was set. “I forgot. Yeah, I checked them out. What you said about how we didn’t come prepared enough to the ghost hunt seemed right.”

Of all the times for someone to listen to Tsukishima. “Can I borrow them?”

“Sure.” The second-year stood, trotting slowly over to his bag and bringing out the books. “Here you go.” Still averting his eyes, Kenma handed over the reading material and waited until the weight was completely gone from his hands before letting go.

“... You aren’t going to ask why I need them?” Tsukishima decided to bring up.

Kenma simply shook his head. “It’s not hard to figure out you’re going back with Yamaguchi.”

Tsukishima’s face twisted up in irritance, but nevertheless he decided to let it go. It was just easier to move past it, especially since Kenma wasn’t implying he was going to tell Hinata or anything. Instead, Tsukishima let out a rough sigh and tucked the books away into his bag.

“What are you hoping to find, Tsukishima?” Akaashi’s sudden interjection from the kitchen area caught him off guard.

“I don’t know.” He lied.

 

* * *

Truth be told, Tsukishima would do anything for Yamaguchi.  
Small tasks, like bringing him coffee after a night of studying or lending him some money when he really wanted a cute knick knack but forgot his wallet. And, in the end, he would do anything bigger, too. Like return to a supposed haunted house on a Monday night in the middle of Autumn so that maybe,  _ just maybe _ , there’d be something to gain from the experience that would allow Yamaguchi to calm down.

“Okie dokie.” Yamaguchi gently set down the camera, hitting the record button as he and Tsukishima sat gym-style on the floorboards of the servant’s room. Despite the huge panic attack the freckled boy had last time, he had managed to re-enter the room with little issue, a feat that impressed Tsukishima. “Ready, Tsukki?”

“I suppose.” He remarked flatly.

“Um, hello, I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi and this is---”

“What are you doing?”

“In… troducing myself?” Yamaguchi explained, ducking his head down in nervousness.

“We’re not posting this anywhere, why do we have to do this?”

With a huff, Yamaguchi straightened his posture. “Because! If we  _ do _ find something, then we’ll have to be professional about it.”

“I do not want my name involved with something like this.” Tsukishima shot back blandly. With another huff, Yamaguchi conceded defeat.

“Fine. But I’m doing an introduction, okay?” Having nothing more to argue against, Yamaguchi was finally allowed to continue. “Hello! I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi and this is my reluctant partner, Stick-Up-His-Ass.”

“I like it, it’s fitting.” Tsukishima smirked, much to his friend’s annoyance. “What? Don’t let me stop you, keep going.”

“You’re infuriating sometimes.” Yamaguchi said with narrowed eyes. It was true, Tsukishima had an annoying streak, but it was one that the other hadn’t seemed to mind too much, considering all the years he stuck around it. “Whatever. We’re here at 3874 East Ashenforth Drive. This location is supposedly haunted and we’re seeking to collect information to prove that theory true.”

“Is… that the objective? Proving ghosts true?”

“With that being said, let’s go over some of the history to the home and local area!” Yamaguchi continued on, clearly ignoring Tsukishima’s question. “Stick-Up-His-Ass, if you’d please.”

“Yeah.” He shuffled with some papers for a moment; A series of notes he had taken from those books he borrowed. After clearing his throat, he began to read. “Built nearly two centuries ago, this residential area was home to upper class citizens. It looks like things were pretty normal until about 80 years ago when the whole street was getting sick with some new strain of flu. Things only got worse and the whole area was quarantined, leaving many of the residents to die of sickness within their own homes. With superstition being what it is, the homes were left to rot and people have claimed, as they  _ always _ do, that ghosts haunt this area.”

“Thank you, Stick-Up-His-Ass.”

“Alright, enough with that.” It was Yamaguchi’s turn to smirk at that. “What now, Mr. Ghost Hunter?”

“Oh, um…” Yamaguchi shifted nervously, hands ending up in his lap. “I guess we just… try and talk to them again? Like last time? Maybe we’ll pick up more voices or something…”

“More implies we picked any up in the first place.”

“You know what I mean, Tsukki.” His sideways glare did little to affect Tsukishima’s opinion on the matter. “Anyway… um… spirits? If you’re here… can you give us a sign?”

“What kind of sign? You’re being too vague.”

“I dunno! Move something?”

“I’m still waiting for you to throw a chair.”

“ _ Tsukki _ .” It was a warning. Tsukishima knew to back off on his joking, if only a bit.

“Here.” Tsukishima gripped his flashlight, turning the ring of it until just on the cusp of turning off. He then set it down on the floor in front of them. “If you’re here with us… try and turn off this light.”

Yamaguchi beamed at him, glad to see his friend taking it seriously, even if he had to be scolded into it. They waited for awhile in complete silence.

“Maybe--” Yamaguchi went to say something, but then the light flickered off and he yelped, clinging to Tsukishima’s arm. “Oh my god!”

“That might have been a fluke, let’s try it again.” Tsukishima reached for the flashlight again, setting it back to that delicate midpoint of off or on. “If that was you, please turn it off, especially if you actually want to throw a chair.” Another pause. Another waiting period. And then--- it turned off again.

“AH!” Yamaguchi’s grip tightened on Tsukishima’s arm and the blonde felt his face heating up. Personal space was usually something he always had, but when Yamaguchi was scared, he just couldn’t keep away.

“Is that enough for you?” He asked, hoping to keep his tone steady.

“Um… yeah, I think so…“

They packed everything up, making their way outside into the darkness of the evening. The street lights were always dim in that particular area, so it was hard to see and read Yamaguchi’s expressions.

“Hey, Tsukki?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks for this.” He whispered, taking one step closer to the taller boy. “I… I actually had fun.”

Even in the darkness, Tsukishima could see a large smile on his friend’s face. One that had him already agreeing to doing something like that again.


End file.
